Naucke is an expert at corralling the organic tumbling output of his modular experiments into a cohesive whole.
Modular synths are unwieldy beasts to control. The potential for mind expanding sound experimentation is so varied that when faced with banks of wires, knobs and whistles the temptation to disappear down a rabbit hole of endless noodling must be huge.
Seasoned modular practitioners, such as Keith Fullerton Whitman, never fail to impress by the sheer dexterity with which they handle their complex pieces of kit. For the untrained, getting the things to make even vaguely harmonious noises is a massive challenge, let alone turning them into something resembling anything close to a ‘tune.’
Chicago based synth fiddler Brett Naucke sits firmly in this camp of seasoned practitioner—evidence of which is clear on this, his debut LP for Spectrum Spools. Written and recorded using ‘ritual variations of a singular patch for modular synthesizer’ alongside field recordings made in Miami, Seed is a master class in beautiful, melodic, experimental electronic music.
Naucke is an expert at corralling the organic tumbling output of his modular experiments into a cohesive whole. Crystalline shards of sound cascade and coalesce throughout “Pala” and “Seed” yet it’s the additional sounds of what appear to be vocals, piano, glassy pads & micro produced rhythms that carry things to a whole new level. Presumably these are either culled from the field recordings or are clever manipulations of the aforementioned ritually abused modular patch.
The fantastic “Lost Inside Your Houses” buries Jon Hopkins / Nils Frahm style piano like melodies deep within scattered fragments of bell sounds, moody drone-scapes and euphoric tubular pads. A huge bass underpins the overall feeling that our expert ivory tinklers are trapped inside Naucke’s modular set up, have been there some time and are very happy to accompany his adventures in synthesis. “Luau” is simply enormous, inhabiting a vaguely similar space to Holden’s more dance floor orientated output (see “Blackpool Late Eighties” from The Inheritors, Border Community—2013). Mystical synths and female vocals accompany the shamanistic pounding of a kick drum as fractured waveforms explode all around. Quite marvellous!
Music for both head and heart, Naucke appears to have nailed a fine balance between modular synth chaos and the more melodic side of electronic music. Hugely recommended and one of my favorite electronic releases of 2014.
Seed is available on Spectrum Spools.
